The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the lockdown measures in 2020 on the urban air quality in Nicosia capital city, in Cyprus—an island-country in the East Mediterranean—which is often affected by transboundary dust pollution. The study focuses on three criteria pollutants, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter (PM10), taken from three Air Quality Monitoring Stations; two urban stations and one reference-background. The results of this study show that the decrease in traffic, which is the main source of high concentrations of pollutants in the urban area, reached up to 66.5% during the lockdown. At the beginning of the lockdown period, it exhibited a downward trend of 29% for CO concentration, and downward trend 43% for NO2 and PM10 concentrations. The NO2 concentration exhibited an upward trend towards the end of the lockdown; with the indication that this was due to meteorological conditions relevant to the monitoring stations and the transport of NO2 concentrations from sources that cannot be tracked. PM10 concentrations exhibited a varying behaviour as observed in the trends, where the decreasing trend was followed by an increasing trend due to transboundary air pollution episodes occurring in the same period.
Sand and dust storms (SDS) are a major disruptor in both the source areas where they occur and at distant locations. This critical review aims to address the question of whether mitigation and adaptation measures have been or can be implemented and what is the optimal scale of their implementation to negate the impacts of SDS in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)? Measures which differ in approach are also assessed by recording their successes, failures, and future challenges. We conclude that developing and implementing appropriate mitigation or adaptation measures for SDS at the local level is feasible but, at a wider scale, is a new challenge. This challenge is even more complex in areas like the EMR and the SDS sources affecting it, as it is a crossroad of air masses originating from three major SDS areas, which exhibit economic, political, and social diversity. This review also aims to identify successful mitigation strategies that have been used for similar environmental issues and to draw attention to the lack of adaptation measures in the region. This critical synthesis will serve as a guide for public stakeholders considering measures to mitigate or adapt to SDS based on their effectiveness and the area of implementation.
Recently, the nexus between urban microclimate, outdoor and indoor thermal comfort, the following linked urban energy demands, and the corresponding CO2 emissions footprint has garnered significant attention from both the scientific community and individuals responsible for decision making. The need to establish a low-carbon society and reduce human impact on the environment requires the consideration of potential environmental consequences associated with urban form changes in cities, particularly in relation to planning and development strategies. The World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) collects information on the physical geographies of urban areas worldwide for the benefit of the scientific community. This study proposes a novel methodology on how to translate geographically-based information through the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification, into a complete gridded numerical information for atmospheric numerical modeling or multi-resolution post-treatment. This is done so that numerical modelers will be able to make use of and capitalize on the vast amount of data that is available to them. In order to examine the relationship between the urban form and the CO2 emissions footprint, we used the Metropolitan London area as a case study. In addition, the Principal Component Analysis was used to investigate the connection between the type of urban development and the amount of CO2 emissions. The key conclusion of our analysis suggests that sparser arrangement of buildings, as indicated by lower λ⁠p values, is associated with a decrease in CO⁠2 emissions. Moreover, the potential of this study lies in utilizing the materiality of individual buildings and their corresponding energy requirements to achieve energy efficiency, which aligns with the objectives of WUDAPT Level 1 and 2.
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